I love walking and running in DC, views like this don’t let me forget how lucky I am to be in such a great city!

Our friend Brittany celebrated her 30th birthday with a brunch at Granville Moore’s. It was the first time for Sam and me, and we really enjoyed it- hope to come back to try the mussels and Belgian beer!

My friend Carrie and I went to the screening of Honor Flight, at DAR Constitution Hall, it’s a documentary about a network that brings World War II veterans to see the memorial in D.C. If you haven’t seen this, please do- what a great organization!

Holiday Parties, I’m pretty sure everyone had many this month. This is my attempt at one of them to decorate my cookie. I don’t think Christmas dessert decoration is my thing…maybe next year! If you’re as decorationally-challenged as me, try making this Creamy Winter Veg Soup.

We’ve had a number of friends find new homes the past couple of months- congrats to all! I just thought this card was really cute!

For those that follow me on Twitter, you probably already know that I run with Back on My Feet in DC. This is a great organization helping homeless attain various personal goals (school, homes, jobs, etc) while using running as a platform. If you’d like more info about it, don’t hesitate to ask!

There have been a couple cold nights in December, so we like to stay in and enjoy some cheese, crackers and pear slices! And we got to usa a wedding gift- a new cheese board (thanks to Steph and Jack!).

Although we have had delicious dinners at Zengo DC, we had yet to try it for the new brunch option. When our friends Josie and Nathan wanted to hang out, we suggested this $35 bottomless brunch! Wonderful food, good service and those churros at the end were delicious!

As I’ve mentioned before, it’s a little hectic and slightly stressful around here. So upon reading Mr. Bittman’s recipe and seeing pear and blue cheese, I decided to take this in a completely different direction. Yes, no cheese balls- more like a perfect cheese relaxation plate!

When was the last time you had bought yourself a nice block of cheese? Not when guests come over to serve as an appetizer, but just for yourself to indulge and enjoy? If you can’t remember the last time- then do this tomorrow. You will not be disappointed. This was a wonderful way to wind down after a hectic week.

I know there are some of you out there that don’t enjoy blue cheese. If you’re one of them- definitely grab another type that you’d prefer. Blue cheese does have specific taste- and this tangy flavor blended well with the sweet honey and crisp fall apples.

This is more of a suggestion, rather than a recipe. The amount of apples, cheese, honey or walnuts are entirely up to you. You can add/swap something else, just enjoy some amazing cheese (pears, crackers).

Being a food blogger does have some perks, one of them is trying out new products I might not otherwise get my hands on. After noticing that we had bought some habañeros and other spicy peppers at the Penn Quarter Farmer’s Market, Plato’s Olive Oil contacted us to see if we would be interested in trying out one of their infused olive oils.

Of course Sam, the spice lover of this household, wanted to give this a try. He’s even been thinking about making some of his own! So we waited patiently for our olive oil to arrive.

Plato’s Olive Oil is a family owed company based in California. The owner was looking for an olive oil infused with spicy flavors, and wasn’t able to find any- so he began experimenting! The original, and the product which was sent us, is their habañero-infused olive oil, which comes from the Napa region in California.

To give it a try, I decided to make some lentil curry- and thought that the extra spice from Plato’s olive oil would be a perfect kick. And I was not disappointed, the olive oil gave this dish the extra spice it needed!

But there is no way around it, and many food bloggers and photographers can agree, brown food is so difficult to photograph! But sometimes- in this case a spicy veggie curry- it’s so delicious, I wish it’d look a bit nicer to show off it’s tastiness.

Heat up the olive oil in a large pot. Once heated, add the onions and allow them to cook for about 5 minutes, or until they become translucent. Then add in the garlic, carrots, ginger and jalapeños. Cook for an additional 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Next add in the curry paste, cayenne pepper, cumin and coriander. Allow to cook for about a minute, then add in the tomatoes, coconut milk and lentils. Stir well and bring to a boil. Then lower to a simmer, and cook until the beans are done (about 40 minutes).

Once the lentils are cooked, add in the chickpeas, cauliflower and peas. Cook on low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Finally, stir in the cilantro and serve.

Disclosure: I received a bottle of Plato’s Habanero-Infused Olive Oil to try, but did not receive additional compensation for this post, or was under any obligation to blog about it.

How time flies when you’re having fun! I’m really enjoying doing these monthly reviews, it’s a fun way to look back on what we did throughout the month! Check out the last 3 months: May, June, and July!

Sam and I completed our Open Water Scuba Diving Certificates in Virginia Beach! Our first dive was at the Chesapeake Light Tower (locally known as The Tower), about 13 miles east of the Rundee Inlet. We took our trip with the Lynnhaven Dive Center– what a great adventure!

Our family had a beach house rented for the week, so we did have some time to relax at the beach! We got a tan, read some books, and even saw this cute little sand crab. Having lived in Virginia Beach before, I feel like Sandbridge is one of the best beaches in the area!

A bachelorette weekend in St. Michael’s, MD included some fun shopping. In one of the stores we found these great napkins. Thank you to: Jess, Steph, Carolyn, Cassie, Katie, Josie and Krista for a wonderful weekend!!!

A fellow DC blogger, Thrifty DC Cook, introduced me to Saigon Cafe in Falls Church. This was our 2nd visit in a month- the pho was that good! So if any of my DC friends have a car, and have a craving for pho, I’ll be glad to introduce you to this new find!

A friend, and fellow DC blogger, Emily of Em-i-lis held a canning workshop at the Bethesda Strosniders Hardware Store. If you’d like to learn more about canning she’s teaching another class on August 25th at the Silver Spring location (it’s free, just sign up!).

Sam and I tried out a new pizza place in Columbia Heights- Red Rocks! The pizza above is the Funghi (fresh mozzarella, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes), the other we tried was the Boar Sausage (smoked mozzarella, wild boar, scallions, grana, parsley). Both delicious, we’ll definitely be back!

Our friends Brittany and Ben will be having a baby any day now, we’re all so excited! To celebrate, Stephanie threw a wonderful baby shower! These were on all of the tables, with some delicious popcorn in them! How cute is that?!?

I visited my parents for a week in Chicago- great view of a wonderful city!

While visiting my parents, my Mom showed me how to improve on my pierogi-making techniques! We made blueberry pierogi’s- and they were delicious!

I attended a workshop at the Common City Good Farm on composting. I’ve been wanting to learn more about it, and how to start. Once everything is in place, I hope to do a couple of blog posts about the process.